Rest of the Sleep Disorders Forum Posting

Posted by Joaquin on December 11, 2002 at 14:42:58:

I've always had a problem where the slightest sound or environmental change would wake me up easily. Most of the time this was not a problem as my bedroom was always quiet and dark... Well relatively quiet at least as I have to sleep with a fan on to drown out any little noises that may cause me to wake up. Basically I can't sleep if the enviromental noise is not constant like the fan. TV's, Radios, talking, or any other variable sound no matter how soft will wake me instantly. Daylight or temperature changes will also cause this too. For the most part I haven't had a problem other than short term up until now..... Last week I moved into a new place with a roommate. My bedroom resides next to the living room where the tv, and my roommates computer is located. The apartment isn't very big and has hardwood floors instead of carpeting. My bedroom door is kind of flimsy (hollow inside) and there is a gap of about an half-inch to maybe an inch between the floor and the door. Needless to say I've quickly discovered that sound travels easily into my room. It wouldn't be so bad providing my roommate kept a normal sleep schedule. His sleeping times are very erratic. He's in bed sometimes at 2am or later and up by 6:30 or 7am on weekends. I also usually go to bed late on weekends but don't usually rise until 10am or later to insure I have enough sleep which for me is a bare minimum of 7 hours. On weekdays he will either go to bed at 10pm, 12am, or 1am and wake at either 5am or 6am. So why am I obssesed with his sleep schedule? Well because it's been interfering with mine. As a light sleeper I've always been the utmost courteous to those who are sleeping because I consider it to be a godsend. Instead of hanging in the living room making noise I will instead stay in my room and watch tv etc. so that I won't wake the other person. He on the other hand is not being overly noisy when he does get up. He does turn the tv volume down really low and has been better about not banging on his keyboard when typing. However, as I said before the sounds are coming into my room and no matter how small, they are still overriding the hum of my fan causing me to wake up. Another problem unrelated to sound but fits the environmental aspect is his smoking. I myself am a smoker. However I don't smoke in my bedroom and try to keep it as smoke free as possible especially at night when I'm sleeping. But he smokes at his desk in the living room (approx 4 or 5 feet from my door) while on his computer and the smoke comes into my room and reaks havoc with my sleep in concert with everything else. I've asked him if he could possibly stay in his room a bit more when I'm sleeping and I got the "this is my morning ritual" song and dance giving the indication he is unwilling to change. Sleep aside we are great roommates and have fun chatting and whatnot. I've considered getting new thicker door to help aleviate the sound problems but am somewhat worried about spending a somewhat large sum of money and having it not work. I suppose the reason he's not understanding me is because he (when he actually sleeps) sleeps like a log and can't empathise with me. a couple burning questions I have is, my light sleeping normal? Why do I wake so easily when I have friends that could sleep through an atomic bomb blast? Am I not in REM sleep and is that my cause for waking? Anything I can do aside from moving to a deserted island? The lack of decent sleep lately is affecting me greatly. I don't beleive the sounds coming from my roommate are excessive and warrant waking up for. Most would sleep right through them but for some reason I can't. Any ideas? Thanks

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